1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wire processing apparatus, in particular to a wire position correcting device for use with a wire processing apparatus e.g. for mounting a terminal fitting at an end of the wire by pressing the terminal fitting and the wire with a lower mold and an upper mold which is moved upward and downward with respect to the lower mold.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A terminal mounting apparatus is known which feeds a series of terminal fittings connected as in a chain while successively cutting them, feeds a wire having an exposed end on the fed terminal fitting, and mounts the terminal fitting at the exposed end of the wire using upper and lower molds.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an essential portion of a prior art terminal mounting apparatus. With reference to FIG. 7, the terminal mounting apparatus A includes a crimper 1a at the bottom, a shank 1, an anvil 2, a terminal feeding mechanism 3, a rotatable arm (not shown) and a wire holding member 5. The shank 1 is coupled with a press ram (not shown) so as to move upward and downward (directions indicated by wide arrows) together with the press ram. The anvil 2 is provided below the crimper 1a. The terminal feeding mechanism 3 feeds terminal fittings (not shown) to the anvil 2. The rotatable arm conveys a wire 4 to a position between the crimper 1a and the anvil 2 in a direction indicated by a thin arrow. The wire holding member 5 receives and holds a portion 4b of the wire 4 near an exposed end 4a (having an insulating sheath peeled off).
The wire 4 having conveyed by the rotatable arm and held by the wire holding member 5 is in such a position where the terminal fitting can be mounted at its exposed end. Subsequently, the shank 1 is moved downward, with the result that the fed wire 4 and the terminal fitting are pressed by the crimper 1a and the anvil 2 and the terminal fitting is mounted at the end of the wire 4.
In order to perform the above pressing, the end 4a of the wire 4 needs to be conveyed right on the fed terminal fitting and held so as not to be displaced. This is because, if pressing is applied when the end 4a is not positioned right on the terminal fitting, a core of the wire may come out of the terminal fitting or the terminal fitting may be improperly deformed. This causes an improper mounting of the terminal fitting. In order to avoid this problem, the wire holding member 5 is formed with a recess 5a in which the portion 4b near the end 4a of the conveyed wire 4 is fitted. The portion 4b of the wire 4 conveyed by the rotatable arm can be positioned right on the terminal fitting by being fitted in the recess 5a after moving over a projected portion 5b of the wire retainer 5.
The portion 4b of the wire 4 is not vigorously moved to the recess 5a to be fitted therein, but is fitted in the recess 5a as a result that the wire 4 is conveyed by the rotatable arm. More specifically, the wire 4 is conveyed while having its portion away from the portion 4b by a specified distance gripped by the rotatable arm. During this conveyance, the portion 4b moves over the projected portion 5b of the wire holding member 5 and is fitted in the recess 5a.
The above causes the following inconveniences.
(1) The wire 4 may be curved or deformed while being conveyed by the rotatable arm since the portion 4b of the wire 4 is away from the portion thereof gripped by the rotatable arm by the specified distance. In such a case, the portion 4b cannot be fitted in the recess 5a.
(2) A mounting position of the wire holding member 5 needs to be finely adjusted in order to satisfactorily fit the portion 4b in the recess 5a. This fine adjustment requires a skill.
Because of these inconveniences, it is difficult with the prior art wire holding member 5 constantly to hold the portion 4b of the wire 4 right on the terminal fitting when the pressing operation is continuously performed.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an improved wire processing apparatus, in particular for terminal mounting on a wire, which allows a better, in particular more precise processing of the wire.